In the meantime, some vendors are pulling their products from the shelves, and there is other confusion about bills that have gone unpaid.

Employees said they will not stop protesting until Arthur T. Demoulas is put back in charge. And on Thursday, a vendor said that it also won't do business with Market Basket until Demoulas returns.

Market Basket by the numbers

University of Southern Maine economics professor Michael Hillard said employees and customers respect Arthur T. Demoulas and Hillard believes there is no way forward without him.

"It's hard to imagine a way in which that company can be restored, revived and preserved if Arthur T doesn't get reinstated," said Hillard.

Hillard said Arthur T. Demoulas has made Market Basket an attractive place to work for employees.

"Those are pay levels of livable wages with retirement benefits with health benefits, and there's a sense of stability and prosperity that those workers have that they know is not available in their occupation anywhere else," said Hillard.

He said there is no benefit for an outside company to buy market Basket and said the family fight will eventually come to an end.

"The business has literally been in the process of being destroyed," said Hillard.

Employees said they just want to get back to work.

"Everybody's sick of it, but what are you going to do? You've got to do what you've got to do," said employee Leonard Beneau.

Many employees said they have heard there could be a resolution announced Friday. Managers said they want the dispute to end and would like nothing more than to call their part-time employees and tell them to get back to work.